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Read this — it may help you get rid of 'read only'

By BILL HUSTED

Cox News Service

September 14, 2008

Q:  I have a mystery I hope you can help me solve. I have a Lexar jump drive with 512-megabyte capacity. It has about 444 megabytes of space used. All of a sudden it is telling me I can't save any files because the device is read-only. I haven't changed anything on it and have been saving files on it for almost a year now.

— Sal Alaimo

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A:  First, check a tiny switch on the USB device. On most jump drives (also called flash drives) this switch is used to protect saved data from being accidentally erased. By flipping the switch you make the files read-only.

If that doesn't work, open the My Computer icon. Right-click on the icon for your jump drive and click on "properties." You'll see a check beside a box that says "read only." Remove that checkmark and (barring some kind of failure of the drive itself) you can remove the "read only" attribute.

Q:  I purchased a UPS about five years ago. About eight months ago, the warning signal indicated the battery was low, so I purchased a new battery. The settings box indicated that the battery capacity was 100 percent and had a life of 43 minutes. When I tested the system by unplugging the unit from the wall, the settings showed a precipitous drop in capacity and life, and sent the computer into hibernation. The other items plugged into the battery part of the UPS are my flat-screen monitor and the Comcast cable phone/modem. I thought UPS systems were there to tide you over in a power outage until you could save your work and shut down the computer.

— Paul Wolkoff

A:  My guess is that the UPS, not the battery, is simply defective. Since the unit is about 5 years old, the only recourse is to get another one.

The only qualifier here is this. If you've increased the load on the unit over the years Ñ more gadgets plugged in drawing more power — your UPS may not have enough power to handle the task. I doubt that is the case since modern gear is actually more energy-efficient than the old stuff. But the same solution would still apply. You'd need to replace the unit.

Comment from a reader:  You quoted Peter Dashnaw about the economics of turning off the computer overnight. There is a big problem with his calculations, however. He is assessing the cost of leaving the computer on 24/7. ... He should only be assessing the additional cost of leaving it on overnight when it is not being used, i.e., about 10/7.

Note from Bill: You're right — it should have been obvious to me, but obviously it was not. Good catch.

Please send your questions to Bill Husted at tecbud@ajc.com. While he reads every e-mail, not all are answered. E-mails are selected for publication based on the likelihood that the answers will be of general interest.